The Opelousas courier., 1887-02-05
JAPANESE SPORTS,
PASTTMES THAT THE ORIENTAL,
PEOPLE ENJOY.
The Popular Piigrlmages-Wrest-
ling, Horse and Foot Races
Sword and Spear Contests
Cheap Entertainments.

Cneap entertainments.
The sports and pastimes of the Japan
csc are as Unlike those of Occidental peo-
pie as any other of their institutions. A
people that farm almost without the
plow, wash and keep clean in person and
IN clothing without soap, walk hundreds
Of miles over all kinds Of roads and in
NIL kinds OF weather without boots or
shoes, have no word in their language
Tor hat, and who have nc use OF; Know.
edge OF pins, may be expected to have
surprises In store for us la their snorts
and pastimes. Inasmuch as thew take
more time from their toll than I'M other
people IN the world, they must have
more sports and amusements With which
to enliven their leisure, and such is the
fact. Upon their festat days they throw
OIL all care and anxiety and act like
grown-up children.
Pligrlmages are the chief of their pas
times. These are not wholly religious,
as In Europe, but are undertaken for the
pleasure and instruction they afford. In
. country where roads are almost un-
Known ana the means of rapid transit en-
tirely wanting, but for these pilgrimages
provincial feeling and pre- udice would be
strong and bitter, and the knowledge of
their W country narrow and erroneous.
There is no spot in that country of nearly
40, 0GO, 900 people where these pilgrim
ages do no prevail. Every village, how
ever S rail- when the summer has come
and the field work has been done, sends
out its little band of pilgrims, men,
women and even children, to visit
some great temple which contains
the tombs of noted warriors, wise
lawyers and poets, whose songs
a.e sung in every household; the
shrines OF those who OIL earth we're the
~benefactors of their race, aud for their
good deeds have been placed on the
calendar of saints; high mountains,
famed for their beauty or grandeur;
cataracts, caves in which sages and phi
tosophers have retired to study and medi-
tate, and cliffs from which wide stretches
obthe sea 8 be seen. In whatever di-
rection you may travel, before or after
the autumn harvest, you will see these
pilgrims, clad in the bright-colored dress
OF that country, talking, laughing or
singing, with eyes and ears open for all
that is beautiful and marvellous. They
go on foot usually, and elch one carries
q gourd for water or wine and a square
of light bamboo mating across the
shoulders to keep off the sun and rain.
They wear light, clean straw sandals-or
more generally carry them in their hands
and walk on the smooth paths bare
footed.
All along the routes frequented by
pilgrims there are teahouses and booths,
with shaded seats, usually commanding
some charming prospect of mountain
plain or sea, where the pilgrims can buy
refreshments of rice, cakes, tea and wine,
and eat and rest for such an insufficient
sum as excites incredulity on the part of
foreigners. From one to five cents is the
price charged for such entertainment.
TO be received by several clean, we'll
dressed attendants, politely and smil-
ing welcomed and told to rest, get sweet
meats, cakes, eggs and several cups of
fragrant tea and at last be SEMI off with o
hearty good speed on your Journey, all
for three or four cents, is almost incredi-
bic, but is, nevertheless, true. These
bands of pilgrims will be up before the
sun and off over the hills and through
valleys. Before the sun gets high aud
hot they have gone eight or ten miles,
and then they stop either in these way
side booths or more often on some grassy
slope In the shade of great trees. There
they sleep and rest until the cool of the
afternoon, when they make another eight
or ten miles and then pass the night in
village inns. Two or three dollars will
suffice these simple and frugal people for
an extended pilgrimage and will give
them a sight of many temples, shrines
and natural wonders. These pilgrimages
serve a more useful purpose than amuse-
ment. They furnish object lessons in
teaching better modes of farming and
manufacture, and, what is better still,
the people of remote districts become ac-
quainted with each other and thereby be-
come better neighbors.
Wre thing is o fagorite a nusement. It
became popular about $50 years ago I'm
der the Est reigning family of Tycoons
and their feudal princes, the palmois.
Many of these encouraged the largest and
strongest men of their provinces to wres
tie for the amusement of inc nobility and
BY this means it grew to be q popular
and lucrative sport. As such occupation
had its class and position in society, the
professional Wrestlers never married into
other classes, but all marriages were with
il their own class. Thus the Iargt ST, most
active and muscular men in the empire
belonged to d class by themselves, and
al marriages were confined tofhcir sons
ard daughters. ii there were sons who
were not successful as wTestlers from
want Of muscle and activ they dropped
out of this class and took up some other
occupation. In this way the inferior
specimens were weeded out and only the
best were retained.
The average Japanese man will weigh
125 pounds. One OF these wrestlers will
weigh from 200 TO $50 pounds, and is
head and shoulders above tho other peo-
pie. So marked is the difference that
you see them several blocks away as they
lower above the crowds In the streets.
The woHsen OF this class are fine physical
specimens also. This is probably the
only instance in the world where only
the best physical specimens of men and
women intermarry, and The result s such
as to deserve attention. These wrestlers
form troupes of fifteen or twenty each,
and travel from town to town, where
they always meet a rival troupe, and the
tWo companies give exhibitions. These
exhibitions are generally held in large
buildings, improvised from bamboo
poles for the purpose. They will accom-
moaate thousands Of people and the